85
FootballManager 2022 ,
the veteran playmaker, is
still banging them in and
deserves that new
contract.VERDICTThe illusion breaks down when
interacting with the players. I
congratulated the dressing room on a
decent performance, and they were
all instantly demotivated. A player
complained that he hadn’t been
offered a new contract, but there was
no option to tell him the club was
broke and I couldn’t offer him
anything even though I wanted to.
A season into the game and my
team played out of its skin one week,
and sank into themselves the next,
my job saved only by the club’s low
expectations. I had to accept that
while the game was deep and smart,
I just wasn’t. Yet I was still looking at
my inbox and the next press
conference with journos who had
come to hate my positivity. You can
share that ennui with your friends
with the fantasy draft system,
because misery likes company.
If it were a team, Football
Manager 2022 would be Liverpool.
No big signings, but there’s already a
star in every position and youth
coming through, if you’re patient
enough. Likewise, it’s more vocation,
than game. It’s a second job, but love
what you do and you’ll never work a
day in your life.TOP: (^) It’s pretty but
I don’t know what
it means.
ABOVE: (^) Shortly before
Junior Price decided
they hated me with a
burning passion.
PAINTING 1 , 000 WORDS
Data visualisations as teams...
HEATMAP
Everton. Patchy, few
bright spots.
PASS MAP
Arsenal. Round and round
in circles.
WHATEVER THISIS
Spurs. Absolute confusion
reigns here.
RADAR
Leeds.
Beautiful but
delicate.
HISTOGRAM
WestHam
United. Airs
and graces,
but it’s just a
bar chart.
If red shoes are goodenough
for Klopp then they’re good
enough forme.